Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 41:5
Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish?
5. speak evil of me ] R.V. against me. Psa 41:5 takes up Psa 41:2, as Psa 41:4 answers to Psa 41:3.
When &c.] The words of the enemies, expressing their impatient eagerness for his death, and even for the extinction of his posterity. Cp. Psa 109:13 ; 2Sa 18:18; Psa 9:6.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Mine enemies speak evil of me – They take occasion to speak evil of me in my weak and feeble state, thus adding to my sorrows. The word evil here refers to their calumnies or reproaches. They spoke of him as a bad man; as if it were desirable that he should die; that his influence in the world should come to an end, and that his name should be forgotten.
When shall he die – He is sick; sick on account of his sins; it seems certain that he will die; and it is desirable that such a man should die. But he seems to linger on, as if there were no hope of his dying. Nothing can be imagined more unkind, cutting, severe than this – the desire that a man who is sick shall die, and be out of the way. Nothing could add more to the sorrows of sickness itself than such a wish; than to have it talked about among men – whispered from one to another – that such a man was a nuisance; that he was a bad man; that he was suffering on account of his sins; that it was desirable that his death should occur as soon as possible, and that all remembrance of him on earth should cease.
And his name perish – That he should be forgotten altogether; that his name should be no more mentioned; that all the influence of his life should cease forever. Of a truly bad man – a corrupter of the faith and the virtue of others – this is desirable, for the sooner such men are forgotten the better. Forgotten they will be Pro 10:7, but there is no more malignant feeling in regard to a good man, and especially when such a man is suffering under a severe disease, than the wish that he should die, and that his name should wholly fade away from recollection.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 5. Mine enemies speak evil] It is often a good man’s lot to be evil spoken of; to have his motives, and even his most benevolent acts, misconstrued.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Speak evil of me; vent their ill wishes against me, in the following words.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5, 6. A graphic picture of theconduct of a malignant enemy.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Mine enemies speak evil of me,…. That is, the Jews, who were enemies to his person, people, doctrines and ordinances, and would not have him to reign over them; these spake evil of him, charged him with being a glutton and a winebibber; said he had a devil, and was a Samaritan; imputed his miracles to diabolical influence; branded his doctrine with blasphemy, and spoke against his religion and worship, and wished him ill, saying,
when shall he die; they had a good will to assassinate him privately, but upon mature deliberation they consulted and determined to take what advantage they could against him, and deliver him up to the Roman governor; they feared, should he go on and succeed, through his doctrines and miracles, as he did, it would go ill with them; and they concluded, could he be brought to death, it would clearly appear to the common people that he was not the Messiah; though this was the very thing he came into the world for, and which he himself was very desirous of; because hereby, and hereby only, the salvation of his people could be brought about; and though this was a thing foretold in prophecy, yet it seems as if Christ’s enemies the Jews, and Satan himself, were ignorant of it, and of its virtue and use to save men; however, though it was an ill wish in them, it was well for us that he did die, though the consequence is not as they wished;
and his name perish? that is, the fame of his doctrine and miracles, the memory of him and his worthy deeds, particularly his Gospel, which so fully expresses the glory of his person and grace; yea, he himself, for they hoped that upon his death he would come into general disgrace, that his name would never be mentioned but with reproach, that his Gospel would be no more preached, and that he would be accursed of God and men: in all which they were sadly disappointed; for, upon his resurrection from the dead, he had a name given him above every name; his memory became precious to thousands; an ordinance was appointed to remember him to the end of the world in all his churches; his Gospel was ordered to be preached to all the world, as it was; and he himself is blessed for evermore.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
| David Complains of His Enemies; David’s Comfort in God. | |
5 Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish? 6 And if he come to see me, he speaketh vanity: his heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad, he telleth it. 7 All that hate me whisper together against me: against me do they devise my hurt. 8 An evil disease, say they, cleaveth fast unto him: and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more. 9 Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. 10 But thou, O LORD, be merciful unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them. 11 By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me. 12 And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever. 13 Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.
David often complains of the insolent conduct of his enemies towards him when he was sick, which, as it was very barbarous in them, so it could not but be very grievous to him. They had not indeed arrived at that modern pitch of wickedness of poisoning his meat and drink, or giving him something to make him sick; but, when he was sick, they insulted over him (v. 5): My enemies speak evil of me, designing thereby to grieve his spirit, to ruin his reputation, and so to sink his interest. Let us enquire,
I. What was the conduct of his enemies towards him. 1. They longed for his death: When shall he die, and his name perish with him? He had but an uncomfortable life, and yet they grudged him that. But it was a useful life; he was, upon all accounts, the greatest ornament and blessing of his country; and yet, it seems, there were some who were sick of him, as the Jews were of Paul, crying out, Away with such a fellow from the earth. We ought not to desire the death of any; but to desire the death of useful men, for their usefulness, has much in it of the venom of the old serpent. They envied him his name, and the honour he had won, and doubted not but, if he were dead, that would be laid in the dust with him; yet see how they were mistaken: when he had served his generation he did die (Acts xiii. 36), but did his name perish? No; it lives and flourishes to this day in the sacred writings, and will to the end of time; for the memory of the just is, and shall be, blessed. 2. They picked up every thing they could to reproach him with (v. 6): “If he come to see me” (as it has always been reckoned a piece of neighbourly kindness to visit the sick) “he speaks vanity; that is, he pretends friendship, and that his errand is to mourn with me and to comfort me; he tells me he is very sorry to see me so much indisposed, and wishes me my health; but it is all flattery and falsehood.” We complain, and justly, of the want of sincerity in our days, and that there is scarcely any true friendship to be found among men; but it seems, by this, that the former days were no better than these. David’s friends were all compliment, and had nothing of that affection for him in their hearts which they made profession of. Nor was that the worst of it; it was upon a mischievous design that they came to see him, that they might make invidious remarks upon every thing he said or did, and might represent it as they pleased to others, with their own comments upon it, so as to render him odious or ridiculous: His heart gathereth iniquity to itself, puts ill constructions upon every thing; and the, when he goes among his companions, he tells it to them, that they may tell it to others. Report, say they, and we will report it, Jer. xx. 10. If he complained much of his illness, they would reproach him for his pusillanimity; if he scarcely complained at all, they would reproach him for his stupidity. If he prayed, or gave them good counsel, they would banter it, and call it canting; if he kept silence from good, when the wicked were before him, they would say that he had forgotten his religion now that he was sick. There is no fence against those whose malice thus gathers iniquity. 3. They promised themselves that he would never recover from this sickness, nor ever wipe off the odium with which they had loaded him. They whispered together against him (v. 7), speaking that secretly in one another’s ears which they could not for shame speak out, and which, if they did, they knew would be confuted. Whisperers and backbiters are put together among the worst of sinners, Rom 1:29; Rom 1:30. They whispered, that their plot against him might not be discovered and so defeated; there is seldom whispering (we say) but there is lying, or some mischief on foot. Those whisperers devised evil to David. Concluding he would die quickly, they contrived how to break all the measures he had concerted for the public good, to prevent the prosecution of them, and to undo all that he had hitherto been doing. This he calls devising hurt against him; and they doubted not but to gain their point: An evil disease (a thing of Belial), say they, cleaves fast to him. The reproach with which they had loaded his name, they hoped, would cleave so fast to it that it would perish with him, and then they should gain their point. They went by a modern maxim, Fortiter calumniari, aliquid adhrebit–Fling an abundance of calumny, and some will be sure to stick. “The disease he is now under will certainly make an end of him; for it is the punishment of some great enormous crime, which he will not be brought to repent of, and proves him, however he has appeared, a son of Belial.” Or, “It is inflicted by Satan, who is called Belial,” the wicked one, 2 Cor. vi. 15. “It is” (according to a loose way of speaking some have) “a devilish disease, and therefore it will cleave fast to him; and now that he lieth, now that his distemper prevails so far as to oblige him to keep his bed, he shall rise up no more; we shall get rid of him, and divide the spoil of his preferments.” We are not to think it strange if, when good men are sick, there be those that fear it, which makes the world not worthy of them, Rev. xi. 10. 4. There was one particularly, in whom he had reposed a great deal of confidence, that took part with his enemies and was as abusive to him as any of them (v. 9): My own familiar friend; probably he means Ahithophel, who had been his bosom-friend and prime-minister of state, in whom he trusted as one inviolably firm to him, whose advice he relied much upon in dealing with his enemies, and who did eat of his bread, that is, with whom he had been very intimate and whom he had taken to sit at the table with hi, nay, whom he had maintained and given a livelihood to, and so obliged, both in gratitude and interest, to adhere to him. Those that had their maintenance from the king’s palace did not think it meet for them to see the king’s dishonour (Ezra iv. 14), much less to do him dishonour. Yet this base and treacherous confidant of David’s forgot all the eaten bread, and lifted up his heel against him that had lifted up his head; not only deserted him, but insulted him, kicked at him, endeavoured to supplant him. Those are wicked indeed whom no courtesy done them, nor confidence reposed in them, will oblige; and let us not think it strange if we receive abuses from such: David did, and the Son of David; for of Judas the traitor David here, in the Spirit, spoke; our Saviour himself so expounds this, and therefore gave Judas the sop, that the scripture might be fulfilled, He that eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me,Joh 13:18; Joh 13:26. Nay, have not we ourselves behaved thus perfidiously and disingenuously towards God? We eat of his bread daily, and yet lift up the heel against him, as Jeshurun, that waxed fat and kicked, Deut. xxxii. 15.
II. How did David bear this insolent ill-natured conduct of his enemies towards him?
1. He prayed to God that they might be disappointed. He said nothing to them, but turned himself to God: O Lord! be thou merciful to me, for they are unmerciful, v. 10. He had prayed in reference to the insults of his enemies, Lord, be merciful to me, for this is a prayer which will suit every case. God’s mercy has in it a redress for every grievance, “They endeavour to run me down, but, Lord, do thou raise me up from this bed of languishing, from which they think I shall never arise. Raise me up that I may requite them, that I may render them good for evil” (so some), for that was David’s practice, Psa 7:4; Psa 35:13. A good man will even wish for an opportunity of making it to appear that he bears no malice to those that have been injurious to him, but, on the contrary, that he is ready to do them any good office. Or, “That, as a king, I may put them under the marks of my just displeasure, banish them the court, and forbid them my table for the future,” which would be a necessary piece of justice, for warning to others. Perhaps in this prayer is couched a prophecy of the exaltation of Christ, whom God raised up, that he might be a just avenger of all the wrongs done to him and to his people, particularly by the Jews, whose utter destruction followed not long after.
2. He assured himself that they would be disappointed (v. 11): “By this I know that thou favourest me and my interest, because my enemy doth not triumph over me.” They hoped for his death, but he found himself, through mercy, recovering, and this would add to the comfort of his recovery, (1.) That it would be a disappointment to his adversaries; they would be crest-fallen and wretchedly ashamed, and there would be no occasion to upbraid them with their disappointment; they would fret at it themselves. Note. Though we may not take a pleasure in the fall of our enemies, we may take a pleasure in the frustrating of their designs against us. (2.) That is would be a token of God’s favour to him, and a certain evidence that he did favour him, and would continue to do so. Note, When we can discern the favour of God to us in any mercy, personal or public, that doubles it and sweetens it.
3. He depended upon God, who had thus delivered him from many an evil work, to preserve him to his heavenly kingdom, as blessed Paul, 2 Tim. iv. 18. “As for me, forasmuch as thou favourest me, as a fruit of that favour, and to qualify me for the continuance of it, thou upholdest me in my integrity, and, in order to that, settest me before thy face, hast thy eye always upon me for good;” or, “Because thou dost, by thy grace, uphold me in my integrity, I know that thou wilt, in thy glory, set me for ever before thy face.” Note, (1.) When at any time we suffer in our reputation our chief concern should be about our integrity, and then we may cheerfully leave it to God to secure our reputation. David knows that, if he can but persevere in his integrity, he needs not fear his enemies’ triumphs over him. (2.) The best man in the world holds his integrity no longer then God upholds him in it; for by his grace we are what we are; if we be left to ourselves, we shall not only fall, but fall away. (3.) It is a great comfort to us that, however weak we are, God is able to uphold us in our integrity, and will do it if we commit the keeping of it to him. (4.) If the grace of God did not take a constant care of us, we should not be upheld in our integrity; his eye is always upon us, else we should soon start aside from him. (5.) Those whom God now upholds in their integrity he will set before his face for ever, and make happy in the vision and fruition of himself. He that endures to the end shall be saved.
4. The psalm concludes with a solemn doxology, or adoration of God as the Lord God of Israel, v. 13. It is not certain whether this verse pertains to this particular psalm (if so, it teaches us this, That a believing hope of our preservation through grace to glory is enough to fill our hearts with joy and our mouths with everlasting praise, even in our greatest straits) or whether it was added as the conclusion of the first book of Psalms, which is reckoned to end here (the like being subjoined to Psa 42:13; Psa 72:19; Psa 89:52; Psa 106:48), and then it teaches us to make God the Omega who is the Alpha, to make him the end who is the beginning of every good work. We are taught, (1.) To give glory to God as the Lord God of Israel, a God in covenant with his people, who has done great and kind things for them and has more and better in reserve. (2.) To give him glory as an eternal God, that has both his being and his blessedness from everlasting and to everlasting. (3.) To do this with great affection and fervour of spirit, intimated in the double seal set to it–Amen, and Amen. Be it so now, be it so to all eternity. We say Amen to it, and let all others say Amen too.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
5. My enemies have spoken evil of me. To speak is here used in the sense of to imprecate. In thus describing the unbecoming conduct of his enemies, he seeks, as has been elsewhere said, to induce God to have mercy upon him: because the more that God sees his own people cruelly treated, he is so much the more disposed mercifully to succor them. Thus David, by his own example, stirs up and encourages us to greater confidence in God; because the more that our enemies break forth in their cruelty towards us, so much the more does it procure for us favor in the sight of God. The terms in which his enemies uttered this imprecation show how cruel their hatred had been towards him, since it could only be appeased by his destruction, and that, too, accompanied with shame and ignominy; for they wished that with his life the very remembrance of his name should also be blotted out.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(5) Shall he die . . . perish.Better, When will he die, and his name have perished.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
5. When shall he die This shows that his death was expected, and his enemies were impatient for it.
His name perish His memorial perish. They wished to blot out his fame, and influence, and posterity.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
These verses, and especially the 9th, serve to throw a light upon the whole Psalm. Reader, pray remark, with me, the several expressions here contained. Christ speaks in the 5th, 7th, and 8th verses, of enemies; and in the 6th 9th of a single one. Now there can be no difficulty to discover to whom these words refer, since Christ himself, at his last supper, expressly declares Judas to be this single person, and, in direct appeal to this very scripture, saith, it was for the fulfillment of it. See Joh 13:18 . And respecting the numberless enemies of Christ, which, as a body, this Psalm hath in view, the gospel is full of proof. Thus the whole council said, If we let him thus alone, all men will believe in him. It is expedient that one man should die for the people. Joh 11:47-53 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 41:5 Mine enemies speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish?
Ver. 5. Mine enemies speak evil of me ] Notwithstanding my piety and devotion; that is no target against persecution. David’s integrity and the severity of his discipline displeased these yokeless Belialists; they were sick of his strict government, and longed for a new king who would favour their wicked practices; such as was Absalom, whom they shortly after set up. David they could not endure, because he did justice and judgment to all the people. These libertines were of the Egyptian mode; loquaces et ingeniosi in praefectorum contumeliam, its ut qui vitaverit culpam, infamiam non effugiat, such as loved to speak evil of dignities; and could not give their governors (how blameless soever) a good word (Seneca).
When shall he die, and his name perish?
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Mine: Psa 22:6-8, Psa 102:8
his name: Job 18:17, Job 20:7, Pro 10:7
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
HUMAN FOES AND DIVINE FRIEND
Mine enemies. But Thou, O Lord!
Psa 41:5; Psa 41:10
I. It was a season of bodily suffering.The Psalmist was prone on a couch of languishing; his discomfort was increased by the consciousness of guilt, and aggravated by the ingratitude of friends and the calumny of foes. His enemies spoke evil against him, wondering when he would die and his name perish. They gloated over his misfortunes. Under such conditions he began to ask with new desire for healing: Heal my soul, for I have sinned against Thee. Have mercy upon me, and raise me up.
II. How suitable is this prayer for us all!Heal my soul, for it is stricken with many diseases. John describes our Lords miracles as signs, because each one sets forth an ailment of the inner life, and the Divine method of treatment. Some blind, some paralysed, some on the verge of deaththe Great Physician is bending over us. By faith let us derive healing virtue as we touch the hem of His garment. The Lord Jesus referred Psa 41:9 to Judas, except the clause about trusting; for from the first He had been aware of the untrustworthiness of the traitor.
III. But what comfort there is in turning from faithless friends and persistent foes to the Divine vindication!He who vindicated Abel, whilst his blood was yet warm, has done as much for all His murdered and misunderstood saints; and He will set them before His face for ever in that world where they see eye to eye, and are face to face with faithfulness that cannot forget, a truth that cannot deceive, a love which cannot misunderstand.
Illustrations
(1) Of whom could the words Happy he who deals considerately with the afflicted be so truly used as of Him who applies other words of the forty-first psalm to Himself?
(2) That promise to Gods child, All his bed thou turnest in his sickness, has been touchingly paraphrased, Thou art wont to soothe him as one soothes a sick man, who turns his whole bed over and over that he may lie softer and get some rest.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Psa 41:5-7. Mine enemies speak evil of me Designing thereby to grieve my spirit, ruin my reputation, and sink my interest. And if he come to see me If any of mine enemies visit me in my sickness, according to the custom; he speaketh vanity Or falsehood, pretending sympathy with, and friendship to me, while he is contriving mischief in his heart against me. His heart gathereth iniquity, &c. Even when he is with me, and pretends a sincere affection for me, his heart is devising evil against me. When he goeth abroad he telleth it Partly to delight his companions, and partly to encourage them to, and direct them in, their malicious designs against me. They whisper together against me Secretly defame me, and closely plot against me.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
41:5 Mine enemies {d} speak evil of me, When shall he die, and his name perish?
(d) That is, curse me and cannot have their cruel hate quenched but with my shameful death.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
His enemies, rather than being merciful, took advantage of his weakness. They hoped for his death, spoke hypocritically to him when they visited him, and spread gossip that he would not survive.